market town

American  

noun

1. a town where a regularly scheduled market is held.

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market town British  

noun

1. a town that holds a market, esp an agricultural centre in a rural area

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Etymology

Origin of market town

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

market town

Marlowe and William Shakespeare were born some two months apart in early 1564, the former in Canterbury, a gateway city to London and Europe, and the latter in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

An actor renowned for his "hard man" image and London gangster roles looked at home filming on the more genteel streets of a south Wales market town.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Epping was created in the 13th Century as a market town on the road from London to Cambridge, with The Bell Hotel initially serving many of these travellers when it opened 300 years later.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

ASHTON-IN-MAKERFIELD, England—This redbrick northern market town isn’t exactly famed as a British political bellwether.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026

Mr. Pumblechook’s premises in the High Street of the market town, were of a peppercorny and farinaceous character, as the premises of a cornchandler and seedsman should be.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

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